Dirt Bike Riding: Florence Junction 2

8/13/2010

We went back to the same location between Florence Jct. and Florence to do some more trail riding. Along the way we stopped to gather some more prickly pear fruit. I've mentioned them before and they are very good to just eat out on the go, though kind of tedious to get around the little glochid spines. This time I wanted to try to make something out of them so before we went out I gathered a few recipes found online and decided I needed at least 20-30. We gathered them and kept riding. At home I made a very good dessert dish that everybody thoroughly enjoyed. The following is the recipe I found and used to make this dessert. There are different ways to prepare the prickly pear juice that I've found but I kind of combined a few and did it my own way. I sliced the ends off so I would have something to touch with no glochids. Then I sliced off the skin with a serrated knife so there were no glochids left on. Then gathered them all in a bowl and put them in the blender. I blended it so that there were no more chunks. I suppose some water could be added though they are juicy enough to blend up nicely. Then strain the broken up seeds out and there is your juice to use in the recipe. Next I want to try cookies and jelly, and of course this dessert again. 

Desert Dream Delight

1. Crust: 1 cup flour

1 stick butter

1 cup chopped pecans

Mix together and press in 9" x 13" pan.Bake at 350 degrees F until brown. Let cool and add second layer.

2. Mix: 8 oz cream cheese

1 cup poudered sugar

1 cup Cool Whip (large carton)

Spread evenly over cooled crust.

3. Boil: 1-1/2 cup prickly pear juice

1-1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix 1/2 cup corn starch and 1/2 cup water to make a smooth paste, add to boiling mixture gradually, stirring constantly. Cook until thick and remove from the heat. Combine 4 beaten eggs and 1/2 cup lemon juice. Stir into mixture. Return to heat and cook stirring constantly until it bubbles. stir in 4 tablespoons butter. Remove from heat, cover, and cool until lukewarm. Pour over cream cheese layer. Spread evenly. Top with remaining Cool Whip.

--Nancy Hutto   

As we continued to ride I stopped abruptly when I saw a white lizard run between bushes. I got off my bike and pulled out my camera hoping to get a shot of what could have been a Desert Iguana. I noticed it stopped and realized it was just a Zebra-tailed lizard. A species that is much more white than the pictures and previous lizards I had seen. Can you spot it in the picture above? The picture to the right is a close-up of the lizard. While I was looking at this lizard my brother and friend noticed another and followed it into a pronghorn cholla. I came over and snapped the following picture. It was a Desert Spiny Lizard. It's amazing how their armor scales protect them so well they just run along on cactus spines. 

Animals of Prescott

8/6-9/2010

This weekend I went up to a camp in Prescott with my friend's church for a nationwide conference. While up there I had a few run-ins with different kinds of animals, some that I have never seen before which was exciting. On the first day I was walking around the camp with a friend and as we were nearing the cabin at the edge of the property, he yelled, "What is that!!" There was a short snakish thing scurrying toward a hole under the cabin. I immediately ran at it and stopped it from going under. Then we got some pictures of it and noticed it had tiny legs. My first thought was a skink, but then I remembered another similar lizard that had another name but I couldn't think of it at the time. After that I got my reptile book out and found it to be the Madrean Alligator Lizard. 

That night in the cabin a large beetle was wandering around. I got some pictures of it, the rhinoceros beetle. Then I went outside and saw a skunk off in the distance. I ran inside, grabbed my camera, and followed the skunk through the forest, taking some pictures as I went. 

The next day I was wandering around the forest where the alligator lizard had been when I heard a squirrel barking at me and making lots of noise up in a tree a little ways away. I kept walking and it stopped. Then I went back to the same spot and it went crazy again. Every time I walked on this little plot of land it would yell at me. My guess is he hid something there or I was near 'his' tree. On the last night a few of us were left gathered around the camp fire at the amphitheater. Then I saw something scurrying under the top bench. So I went up and it was a tiny mouse. So I followed it taking pictures until it stopped and then  I got the following one of it. 

Rabbit Hunting

8/03/2010

Today my two brothers, friend, and I went rabbit hunting on Four Peaks rd. We noticed they were doing some construction where the old dirt parking lot and bathrooms had been. It seems they are filling it with various desert plants. There are rows of agaves, pronghorn cholla, saguaros, etc, which will look kinda strange for so many desert plants to be grouped together but we'll see what they plan on doing with it.

We went out with two .22's and two 20 gauge shotguns and paired up so each two had a rifle and shotgun. We ended up getting two cotton tail rabbits to add to dinner the following evening. I do need to find a better recipe for cooking the rabbit because they are a tough meat. Something that would tender them up and make them better would be great. If you have any methods of cooking rabbit, please leave a comment. It would be greatly appreciated. I didn't post any pictures of the rabbits because they were kind of gruesome and I know some people reading this blog wouldn't appreciate it. But the view around there is amazing with Four Peaks and Weaver's Needle in the background.

As we were heading back to the car to head home, I saw a whitish blur on the ground. A lizard! Twice in the surrounding area I have seen a white blur but never got close enough to distinguish the species of lizard. I had been hoping it was the desert iguana, known to be quite fast and a white/grey color. It is still a possibility but after going out riding the next week (in a different area) I saw a very similar blur but was able to identify it. I will post that story later. As for rabbit hunting we will probably go out again soon if not for the main purpose of dove hunting which starts Sept. 1-15. Hopefully I will have some good stories from hunting during that time.